Which is far too full of washing

The only thing to do, Sophie decided, was to showHowl that she was an excellent cleaning lady, a real treasure. Shetied an old rag round her wispy white hair, she rolled the sleeves upher skinny old arms and wrapped an old tablecloth from the broomcupboard round her as an apron. It was rather a relief to think therewere only four rooms to clean instead of a whole castle. She grabbedup a bucket and besom and got to work.

?What are you doing?? cried Michael and Calcifer in ahorrified chorus.

?Cleaning up,? Sophie replied firmly. ?The placeis a disgrace.?

Calcifer said, ?It doesn?t need it,? and Michaelmuttered, ?Howl will kick you out!? but Sophie ignoredthem both. Dust flew in clouds.

In the midst of it there came another set of thumps at the door.Calcifer blazed up, calling, ?Porthaven door!? and gave agreat, sizzling sneeze which shot purple sparks through the dustclouds.

Michael left the workbench and went to the door. Sophie peeredthrough the dust she was raising and saw that this time Michaelturned the square knob over the door so that the side with a blueblob of paint on it was downward. Then he opened the door on thestreet you saw out of the window.

A small girl stood there. ?Please, Mr. Fisher,? shesaid, ?I?ve come for that spell for me mum.?

?Safety spell for your dad?s boat, wasn?tit?? Michael said. ?Won?t be a moment.? Hewent back to the bench and measured powder from a jar from theshelves into a square of paper. While he was doing it, the littlegirl peered in at Sophie as curiously as Sophie peered out at her.Michael twisted the paper round the powder and came back saying,?Tell her to sprinkle it right along the boat. It?ll lastout and back, even if there?s a storm.?

The girl took the paper and passed over a coin. ?Has theSorcerer got a witch working for him too?? she asked.

?No,? said Michael.

?Meaning me?? Sophie called. ?Oh, yes, my child.I?m the best and cleanest witch in Ingary.?

Michael shut the door, looking exasperated. ?That will beall around Porthaven now. Howl may not like that.? He turnedthe door green-down again.

Sophie cackled to herself a little, quite unrepentant. Probablyshe had let the besom she was using put ideas into her head. But itmight persuade Howl to let her stay if everyone thought she wasworking for him. As a girl, Sophie would have shriveled withembarrassment at the way she was behaving. As an old woman, she didnot mind what she did or said. She found that a great relief.

She went nosily over as Michael lifted up a stone in the hearthand hid the little girl?s coin underneath it. ?What areyou doing??

?Calcifer and I try to keep a store of money,? Michaelsaid rather guiltily. ?Howl spends every penny we?ve gotif we don?t.?

?Feckless spendthrift!? Calcifer crackled.?He?ll spend the King?s money faster than I burn alog. No sense.?

Sophie sprinkled water from the sink to lay the dust, which madeCalcifer shrink back against the chimney. Then she swept the floorall over again. She swept her way toward the door in order to have alook at the square knob above it. The fourth side, which she had notseen used yet, had a blob of black paint on it. Wondering where thatled to, Sophie began briskly sweeping the cobwebs off the beams.Michael moaned and Calcifer sneezed again.

Howl came out of the bathroom just then in a waft of steamyperfume. He looked marvelously spruce. Even the silver inlets andembroidery on his suit seemed to have become brighter. He took onelook and backed into the bathroom again with a blue-and-silver sleeveprotecting his head.

?Stop it, woman!? he said. ?Leave those poorspiders alone!?

?These cobwebs are a disgrace!? Sophie declared,fetching them down in bundles.

?Then get them down and leave the spiders,? saidHowl.

Probably he had a wicked affinity with spiders, Sophie thought.?They?ll only make more webs,? she said.

?And kill flies, which is very useful,? said Howl.?Keep that broom still while I cross my own room,please.?

Sophie leaned on the broom and watched Howl cross the room andpick up his guitar. As he put his hand on the door latch, she said,?If the red blob leads to Kingsbury and the blue blob goes toPorthaven, where does the black blob take you??

?What a nosy old woman you are!? said Howl.?That leads to my private bolt hole and you are not being toldwhere it is.? He opened the door onto the wide, moving moorlandand the hills.

?When will you be back, Howl?? Michael asked a littledespairingly.

Howl pretended not to hear. He said to Sophie, ?You?renot to kill a single spider while I?m away.? And the doorslammed behind him. Michael looked meaningly at Calcifer, and sighed.Calcifer crackled with malicious laughter.

Since nobody explained where Howl had gone, Sophie conceded he wasoff to hunt young girls again and got down to work with morerighteous vigor than ever. She did not dare harm any spiders afterwhat Howl had said. So she banged at the beams with the broom,screaming, ?Out, spiders! Out of my way!? Spidersscrambled for their lives every which way, and webs fell in swathes.Then of course she had to sweep the floor yet again. After that, shegot down on her knees and scrubbed it.

?I wish you?d stop!? Michael said, sitting onthe stairs out of her way.

Calcifer, cowering at the back of the grate, muttered, ?Iwish I?d never made that bargain with you now!?

Sophie scrubbed on vigorously. ?You?ll be much happierwhen it?s all nice and clean,? she said.

?But I?m miserable now !? Michaelprotested.

Howl did not come back again until late that night. By that timeSophie had swept and scrubbed herself into a state when she couldhardly move. She was sitting hunched up in the chair, aching allover. Michael took hold of Howl by a trailing sleeve and towed himover to the bathroom, where Sophie could hear him pouring outcomplaints in a passionate mutter. Phrases like ?terrible oldbiddy? and ?won?t listen to a word !?were quite easy to hear, even though Calcifer was roaring,?Howl, stop her! She?s killing us both!?

But all Howl said, when Michael let go of him, was ?Did youkill any spiders??

?Of course not!? Sophie snapped. He aches made herirritable. ?They look at me and run for their lives. What arethey? All the girls whose hearts you ate??

Howl laughed. ?No. Just simple spiders,? he said andwent dreamily away upstairs.

Michael sighed. He went into the broom cupboard and hunted untilhe found an old folding bed, a straw mattress, and some rugs, whichhe put into the arched space under the stairs. ?You?dbetter sleep here tonight,? he told Sophie.

?Does that mean Howl?s going to let me stay??Sophie asked.

?I don?t know!? Michael said irritably.?Howl never commits himself to anything. I was here six monthsbefore he seemed to notice I was living here and made me hisapprentice. I just thought a bed would be better than thechair.?

?Then thank you very much,? Sophie said gratefully.The bed was indeed more comfortable than a chair and when Calcifercomplained he was hungry in the night, it was an easy matter forSophie to creak her way out and give him another log.

In the days that followed, Sophie cleaned her way remorselesslythrough the castle. She really enjoyed herself. Telling herself shewas looking for clues, she washed the window, she cleaned out theoozing sink, and she made Michael clear everything off the workbenchand the shelves so that she could scrub them. She had everything outof the cupboards and down from the beams and cleaned those too. Thehuman skull, she fancied, began to look as long suffering as Michael.It had been moved so often. Then she tacked an old sheet to the beamsnearest the fireplace and forced Calcifer to bend his head down whileshe swept the chimney. Calcifer hated that. He crackled with meanlaughter when Sophie discovered that soot had got all over the roomand she had to clean it all again. That was Sophie?s trouble.She was remorseless, but she lacked method. But there was a method toher remorselessness: she calculated that she could not clean thisthoroughly without sooner or later coming across Howl?s hiddenhoard of girls? souls, or chewed up hearts?or else somethingthat explained Calcifer?s contract. Up the chimney, guarded byCalcifer, had struck her as a good hiding place. But there wasnothing there but quantities of soot, which Sophie stored in bags inthe yard. The yard was high on her list of hiding places.

Every time Howl came in, Michael and Calcifer complained loudlyabout Sophie. But Howl did not seem to attend. Not did he seem tonotice the cleanliness. And nor did he notice that the food closetbecame very well stocked with cakes and jam and the occasionallettuce.

For, as Michael had prophesied, word had gone round Porthaven.People came to the door to look at Sophie. They called her Mrs. Witchin Porthaven and Madam Sorceress in Kingsbury. Though the people whocame to the Kingsbury door were better dressed than those inPorthaven, no one in either place liked to call on someone sopowerful without an excuse. So Sophie was always having to pause inher work to nod and smile and take in a gift, or to get Michael toput up a quick spell for someone. Some of the gifts were nicethings?pictures, strings of shells, and useful aprons. Sophie usedthe aprons daily and hung the shells and pictures round her cubbyholeunder the stairs, which soon began to look very homelike indeed.

Sophie knew she would miss this when Howl turned her out. Shebecame more and more afraid that he would. She knew he could not goon ignoring her forever.

She cleaned the bathroom next. That took her days, because Howlspent so long in it every day before he went out. As soon as he went,leaving it full of steam and scented spells, Sophie moved in.?Now we?ll see about that contract!? she mutteredat the bath, but her main target was of course the shelf of packets,jars, and tubes. She took every one of them down, on the pretext ofscrubbing the shelf, and spent most of the day carefully goingthrough them to see if the ones labeled SKIN, EYES, and HAIR were infact pieces of girl. As far as she could tell, they were all justcreams and powders and paint. If they had once been girls, thenSophie thought Howl had used the tube FOR DECAY on them and rottedthem down the washbasin too thoroughly to recall. But she hoped theywere only cosmetics in the packets.

She put the things back on the shelf and scrubbed. That night, asshe sat aching in the chair, Calcifer grumbled that he had drainedone hot spring dry for her.

?Where are these hot springs?? Sophie asked. She wascurious about everything these days.

?Under the Porthaven Marshes mostly,? Calcifer said.?But if you go on like this, I?ll have to fetch waterfrom the Waste. When are you going to stop cleaning and find out howto break my contract??

?In good time,? said Sophie. ?How can I get theterms out of Howl if he?s never in? Is he always away thismuch??

?Only when he?s after a lady,? Calcifersaid.

When the bathroom was clean and gleaming, Sophie scrubbed thestairs and the landing upstairs. Then she moved into Michael?ssmall front room. Michael, who by this time seemed to be acceptingSophie gloomily as a sort of natural disaster, gave a yell of dismayand pounded upstairs to rescue his most treasured possessions. Theywere in an old box under his worm-eaten little bed. As he hurried thebox protectively away, Sophie glimpsed a blue ribbon and a spun-sugarrose in it, on top of what seemed to be letters.

?So Michael has a sweet heart!? she said to herself asshe flung the window open?it opened into the street in Porthaventoo?and heaved his bedding across the sill to air. Considering hownosy she had lately become, Sophie was rather surprised at herselffor not asking Michael who his girl was and how he kept her safe fromHowl.

She swept such quantities of dust and rubbish from Michael?sroom that she nearly swamped Calcifer trying to burn it all.

?You?ll be the death of me! You?re as heartlessas Howl!? Calcifer choked. Only his green hair and a blue pieceof his long forehead showed.

Michael put his precious box in the drawer of the workbench andlocked the drawer. ?I wish Howl would listen to us!? hesaid. ?Why is this girl taking him so long??

The next day Sophie tried to start on the backyard. But it wasraining in Porthaven that day, driving against the window andpattering in the chimney, making Calcifer hiss with annoyance. Theyard was part of the Porthaven house too, so it was pouring out therewhen Sophie opened the door. She put her apron over her head andrummaged a little, and before she got too wet, she found a bucket ofwhitewash and a large paintbrush. She took these indoors and set towork on the walls. She found an old stepladder in the broom cupboardand she whitewashed the ceiling between the beams too. it rained forthe next two days in Porthaven, though when Howl opened the door withthe knob green-blob-down and stepped out onto the hill, the weatherthere was sunny, with big cloud shadows racing over the heatherfaster than the castle could move. Sophie whitewashed her cubbyhole,the stairs, the landing, and Michael?s room.

?What?s happened in here?? Howl asked when hecame in on the third day. ?It seems much lighter.?

?Sophie,? said Michael in a voice of doom.

?I should have guessed,? Howl said as he disappearedinto the bathroom.

?He noticed !? Michael whispered to Calcifer.?The girl must be giving in at last!?

It was still drizzling in Porthaven the next day. Sophie tied onher headcloth, rolled up her sleeves, and girdled on her apron. Shecollected her besom, her bucket, and her soap, and as soon as Howlwas out of the door, she set off like an elderly avenging angel toclean Howl?s bedroom.

She had left that until last for fear of what she would find. Shehad not even dared to peep into it. And that was silly, she thoughtas she hobbled up the stairs. By now it was clear that Calcifer didall the strong magic in the castle and Michael did all the hackwork,while Howl gadded off catching girls and exploiting the other twojust as Fanny had exploited her. Sophie had never found Howlparticularly frightening. Now she felt nothing but contempt.

She arrived on the landing and found Howl standing in the doorwayof his bedroom. He was leaning lazily on one hand, completelyblocking her way.

?No you don?t,? he said quite pleasantly.?I want it dirty, thank you.?

Sophie gaped at him. ?Where did you come from? I saw you goout.?

?I meant you to,? said Howl. ?You?d doneyour worst with Calcifer and poor Michael. It stood to reasonyou?d descend on me today. And whatever Calcifer told you, Iam a wizard, you know. Didn?t you think I could domagic??

This undermined all Sophie?s assumptions. She would havedied rather than admit it. ?Everyone knows you?re awizard, young man,? she said severely. ?But thatdoesn?t alter the fact that your castle is the dirtiest placeI?ve ever been in.? she looked into the room pastHowl?s dangling blue-and-silver sleeve. The carpet on the floorwas littered like a bird?s nest. She glimpsed peeling walls anda shelf full of books, some of them very queer-looking. There was nosign of a pile of gnawed hearts, but those were probably behind orunder the huge fourposter bed. Its hangings were gray-white with dustand they prevented her from seeing what the window looked outonto.

Howl swung his sleeve in front of her face. ?Uh-uh.Don?t be nosy.?

?I?m not being nosy!? Sophie protested.?That room?!?

?Yes, you are nosy,? said Howl.?You?re a dreadfully nosy, horribly bossy, appallinglyclean old woman. Control yourself. You?re victimizing usall.?

?But it?s a pigsty,? said Sophie. ?Ican?t help what I am!?

?Yes you can,? said Howl. ?And I like my roomthe way it is. You must admit I have a right to live in a pigsty if Iwant. Now go downstairs and think of something else to do. Please. Ihate quarreling with people.?

There was nothing Sophie could do but hobble away with her bucketclanking by her side. She was a little shaken, and very surprisedthat Howl had not thrown her out of the castle on the spot. But sincehe had not, she thought of the next thing that needed doing at once.She opened the door beside the stairs, found the drizzle had almoststopped, and sallied out into the yard, where she began vigorouslysorting through piles of dripping rubbish.

There was a metallic clash! and Howl appeared again,stumbling slightly, in the middle of the large sheet of rusty ironthat Sophie had been going to move next.

?Not here either,? he said. ?You are a terror,aren?t you? Leave this yard alone. I know just where everythingis in it, and I won?t be able to find the things I need for mytransport spells if you tidy them up.?

So there was probably a bundle of souls or a box of chewed uphearts somewhere out here, Sophie thought. She felt really thwarted.?Tidying up is what I?m here for!? sheshouted at Howl.

?Then you must think of a new meaning for your life,?Howl said. For a moment it seemed as it he was going to lose histemper too. His strange, pale eyes all but glared at Sophie. But hecontrolled himself and said, ?Now trot along indoors, youoveractive old thing, and find something else to play with before Iget angry. I hate getting angry.?

Sophie folded her skinny arms. She did not like being glared at byeyes like glass marbles. ?Of course you hate gettingangry!? she retorted. ?You don?t like anythingunpleasant, do you? You?re a slitherer-outer, that?s whatyou are! You slither away from anything you don?tlike!?

Howl gave a forced sort of smile. ?Well now,? he said.?Now we both know each other?s faults. Now go back intothe house. Go on. Back.? He advanced on Sophie, waving hertoward the door. The sleeve on his waving hand caught the edge of therusty metal, jerked, and tore. ?Damnation!? said Howl,holding up the trailing blue-and-silver ends. ?Look whatyou?ve made me do!?

?I can mend it,? Sophie said.

Howl gave her another glassy look. ?There you goagain,? he said. ?How you must love servitude!? Hetook his torn sleeve gently between the fingers of his right hand andpulled it through them. As the blue-and-silver fabric left hisfingers, there was no tear in it at all. ?There,? hesaid. ?Understand??

Sophie hobbled back indoors, rather chastened. Wizards clearly hadno need to work in the ordinary way. Howl had shown her he really wasa wizard to be reckoned with. ?Why didn?t he turn meout?? she said, half to herself and half to Michael.

?It beats me,? said Michael. ?But I think hegoes by Calcifer. Most people who come in here either don?tnotice Calcifer, or they?re scared stiff of him.?

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 113